McDaniels puts his offense up against Browns' defense

Friday

Dec 6, 2013 at 12:08 AM

Josh McDaniels recalls a hard day at the office against Ray Horton, the Browns coach he will engage in a chess match Sunday. The good times have rolled since the former McKinley quarterback went back to Bill Belichick.

Steve Doerschuk CantonRep.com sports writer @sdoerschukREP

The Patriots’ record never changes, but don’t let that fool you.

They get rid of players with the best of them.

Cleveland’s trip to New England proves the point.

The last time the Browns went to Foxboro, the only members of the 2013 team on the field were Joe Thomas and D’Qwell Jackson. The only current Patriots who played in that game were Tom Brady, Logan Mankins and Stephen Gostkowski.

The year was 2007, eons in NFL terms.

What a long, strange trip it has been for former McKinley High School quarterback Josh McDaniels — a circuitous sojourn back in New England.

In 2007, McDaniels was a 31-year-old boy wonder, offensive coordinator of a Patriots team that would take an 18-0 record into a Super Bowl.

The Giants won the big game, but

McDaniels was tagged as a rising star. His reputation grew even though the Patriots regressed to 11-5 in 2008. They did it with Brady hurt and McDaniels making the offense fly with Matt Cassel.

In January 2009, McDaniels interviewed for the head coaching job that opened in Cleveland when Romeo Crennel was fired. McDaniels wound up replacing Mike Shanahan as head coach of the Broncos.

His home debut in Denver was a win over the Browns. He would be 6-0 before the good times stopped rolling.

He lacked a quarterback. He became aggressive in the 2010 offseason, trading Peyton Hillis for Brady Quinn, spending a Round 1 draft pick on Tim Tebow. It didn’t work. He was fired 12 games into the 2010 season.

His next job was in St. Louis, where a coordinator job came open because Pat Shurmur was hired away by the Browns. After the end of a 2-14 year, head coach Steve Spagnuolo and his staff were

excused.

Belichick needed an offensive coordinator — Bill O’Brien was leaving to be head coach at Penn State — and snapped up McDaniels.

New England’s roster was eroding, but McDaniels helped the 2012 team to its usual finish, 12-4. Heading into the Browns game, the 2013 Patriots are

9-3.

At 37, he is an old pro, 19 years removed from playing in the 100th McKinley-Massillon game, 14 years into NFL work.

The twofold guess is, one, he will be an NFL head coach again, and, two, if he hangs around New England and Belichick decides to retire, he is the heir apparent.

For now, McDaniels has a playoff race to worry about, and a Browns defense to plan for.

He talked in some detail about what he sees in Cleveland. He is plotting against defensive coordinator Ray Horton, as he did last year when Horton ran Arizona’s defense. McDaniels’ team lost, 20-18.

Does Horton’s Cleveland defense remind McDaniels of Arizona’s?

“Definitely,” McDaniels said. “They have an aggressive scheme. I think they’re in the top four or five there in total yards (actually, No. 4, allowing 306.8 yards a game).

“They don’t give up big plays, which to me is a sign of a good defense. They make you drive the ball. They haven’t allowed many red-zone trips the entire season.”

The Browns’ season got away on two red-zone trips the Browns did allow, on Jacksonville’s first drive (after they had taken a quick 7-0 lead) and the last (after a 95-yard Josh Gordon touchdown provided a 28-25 lead).

The engineer was former Michigan quarterback Chad Henne. Now, Horton must deal with former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady. If Horton can solve McDaniels and Brady on Sunday, Browns fans would feel better about what has become another painful year.

That’s not McDaniels’ concern.

“They do a good job in the running game and the passing game,” he went on. “They create good pressure on the quarterback, all of which we saw from his defense last year in Arizona.

“I think this group is extremely well coached. He certainly has a great grasp of what he wants to do against the opponent each week.”

McDaniels and then-Browns owner Randy Lerner didn’t hit it off in the 2009 interview. Lerner zoned in on Eric Mangini.

McDaniels, who followed Belichick’s Browns closely in the 1990s, has studied the team from afar, especially this week.

“They really have a top-notch front,” he said. “They have big guys in there in (Phil) Taylor and (Ahtyba) Rubin. They don’t give up a lot of yards in the running game. (Paul) Kruger and (Jabaal) Sheard have done a good job as edge rushers.

“They definitely generate pressure on the quarterback. (Barkevious) Mingo, the rookie, creates some negative plays in the pass rush ... he’s been disruptive.

“They have two of the best cover linebackers and active linebackers inside that we’ll play all year in D’Qwell Jackson and (Craig) Robertson. These guys can move sideline to sideline. They cover tight ends. They cover backs. They read the quarterback’s eyes well in zone coverage.

“(Joe) Haden is one of the better corners that you’re going to find, for sure. He’s got great ability to match routes and makes plays on the ball. He reads the quarterback well, is physical, tackles.

“(Buster) Skrine on the other side has a lot of pass breakups this year ... a real fast guy, hard to get away from. And then the safeties ... (T.J.) Ward is an aggressive, downhill guy, (Tashaun) Gibson does a real good job of reading the quarterback and getting to the ball in the deep part of the field.

“So, not a lot of holes and easy yards against this group.”

The big hole is in the record. The Browns are 4-8, in danger of finishing 5-11 or worse a sixth straight year.

The last year they had a winning record coincided with their last trip to New England. After the loss, they went on the best hot streak of the expansion era, 5-1.

The Patriots’ records since that season have been 11-5, 10-6, 14-2, 13-3, 12-4 and now 9-3.

Yet, the New England roster, like Cleveland’s, has changed big-time a long the way.

What keeps New England on top? One might conclude the quarterback play and the coaching haven’t been half bad.

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